Before the Storm
by CarewornShoes
Summary: A short story about Raditz, primarily during his pre-planet-blowing-up days.  Includes a lot of speculation on my part.  Enjoy!


_Kakarrot looks like Father._

It was hard to see into the nursery, but if Raditz stood on the very tip-tops of his toes he could just manage to look over the window ledge. His nose left a smudge on the glass.

_He really, really looks like Father._

"Che," said Raditz. The kid didn't look like much at all, even though Mother - and some of the other mothers - had made a big deal out of him. As far as Raditz could tell,though, Kakarrot wasn't much more than a small, naked, wiggly, noisy, thing-that-looked-like-a-mini-Father thing. But maybe there was more to babies than just what you saw, so, in all fairness to his new kid brother, he had decided to give him a chance to prove himself. Mother's scouter was too big for him, but Raditz figured he could just hold it up to his ear with one hand and it would work well enough. If he used that, it would tell him _exactly_ how he should feel about Kakarrot.

The scouter hadn't been hard to get ahold of. For the past couple of weeks, Mother hadn't been allowed to go on missions, so it had lain in a drawer along with her battle armor and jumpsuit. Being cooped up had made her testy, which put her in a mood for extra training, but Father was offplanet and nobody else was around to spar with but Raditz. Mother was strong, and Raditz was glad that being pregnant made her slow.

He shoved the scouter up next to his ear and pushed the button. It buzzed at him, then beeped as he turned his face towards Kakarrot. Raditz's eyes widened.

_Is it broken?_

It couldn't be - Mother was alwasy very careful to keep her gear working perfectly. But she was so _excited_ about Kakarrot! Raditz pushed the scouter's button again, but the readout stayed the same. It was right, then.

"Che!" he said again. _What's so great about some stupid baby with a battle power of TWO?_

His little brother was pathetic. Raditz turned on his heel scornfully and plopped down on the floor, leaning against the wall that looked into the nursery. It was stupid that babies got so much attention. _He_ was much more powerful than that - he'd already taken over _four_ planets all by himself, and those were just the ones he could remember. And Mother had conquered dozens of planets - her battle power had to be _thousands_, thought Raditz - so why she cared about battle-power-two-baby was a mystery. He fiddled with the scouter. It clacked a little on the hard stone floor, and the sound was echoed by quick footsteps.

Someone was coming. Raditz looked over his shoulder, annoyed, then immediately sprang to his feet with the scouter behind his back. The woman who was headed his way was a stern-faced Saiyan, her tail fluffy with irritation, her long black hair frazzled. She wore a white robe over her combat jumpsuit, and Raditz felt a twinge of hope.

_Maybe she'll be less cranky now that she can go on missions again -_

"Raditz, that's my scouter you've got behind your back." Raditz shame-facedly brought the scouter forward. Mother snatched it from him and glared down, one hand on her hip. "I thought I told you not to rustle through my things."

"I just wanted to see how strong Kakarrot was," Raditz sulked, "and he's _not_ strong at _all_."

Mother snorted. "He's a _baby_, boy, what did you expect? What even _is_ his battle power?" She snapped the scouter into place and pushed the button, looking through the window at her younger son. The scouter beeped and buzzed.

"It's _two_," Raditz sneered. Mother smiled and looked back at him.

"Well, I'll give you this, you did have him beat at his age."

Raditz smirked. "I bet my battle power was already a hundred when I was a baby!"

"It was four," replied Mother, and bopped Raditz on the head. "Now come on, you have a mission starting soon, and he's headed out later today, too."

Raditz's face lit up. Mother turned and made her way down the hall, and he ran to catch up to her. "Oo! Where to?"

"Well, Kakarrot's going to a place called Earth, and _you're_ headed to Gogontura, I think. Its inhabitants might even put up a fight."

Raditz grinned and raised his fist. "I'll put 'em down!" he declared. "They won't stand a chance!"

Mother looked at him seriously for a moment, then smiled. It made her whole face look warm. "All right then, Raditz. For the glory of the Saiyans and to make your mother proud, you make sure to take them all out." She swooped in and snatched him up in a hug before he could react. Raditz kicked a bit in protest.

"Mother, put me down!"

"Get yourself down, if you can!" she retorted. "We're counting on you to help show the universe the strength of the Saiyans. I can't have a weakling as a son! Prove your strength, boy!"

Somehow, he wriggled free, though he couldn't remember how. Mother chased him down the hallway, throwing punches, most of which he managed to block; she must have been taking it easy on him. She'd checked over the condition of his armor, then bopped him on the head again and shoved him towards his space pod.

"Don't let yourself get distracted and forget to watch your back!" she called. "And keep your tail wrapped!"

Raditz rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, Mom! I'll be back before three days are gone!"

_Stupid Mother, I'm not gonna let them get my tail._

She smiled. "Show them the might of the Saiyan warrior race!" The pod sealed shut and blasted off; he caught one last fleeting glance of her waving good-bye before he vanished into the dark, cold reaches of space. Just before he fell asleep, he smiled. Saiyans were made for fighting. He couldn't wait to get there.

He came back just a few weeks later, barely any absence at all.

The planet was gone.

Lord Freiza said it was a meteor. Raditz was stunned - how could everybody on the planet have missed it coming? It must have been fast, so fast there wasn't time. There were only three of them left who weren't helpless babies or pathetic weaklings - himself, Nappa, and Prince Vegeta. They were offered a place in Lord Freiza's army as conquerors, doing the same thing they'd always done. The prince accepted the position. Raditz didn't pay much attention to the proceedings; it wasn't like he had anything to contribute, anyway. From that day on, it didn't matter that Raditz had been a lowly, common soldier and the other two nobility and royalty. They worked as a team, acquiring planets and annihilating any who stood in their way. They hardly slept. Even then, they never truly rested. It was a hard, bloody, battle-heavy life, and Raditz was glad of it. Too much downtime meant too much time to think.

_Any time not fighting is too much time to think._

One more world in the blurred line of planets they'd conquered, except this time, the prince was actually uncertain of their success. Nappa was downright concerned.

"If only there were one more of us, we'd make short work of the place!"

Prince Vegeta looked annoyed, like he usually did when Nappa opened his mouth. Raditz frowned.

_If only...but there's nobody left. Everybody's gone. Even my family, Father's gone, Mother's gone -_

"Kakarrot's alive," said Raditz.

The other two stopped and turned to look at him.

"What did you say?" demanded Prince Vegeta.

"Kakarrot's alive," repeated Raditz, a little surprised at how quickly he'd recalled the kid's name. He crossed his arms. It had been so many years since he'd remembered he'd even had a little brother. "He was one of the ones sent off when he was a baby."

Nappa looked stunned. Prince Vegeta was staring at Raditz with a calculating look on his face.

"How can you be so sure he's alive? Do you know him somehow?"

"He's my little brother," said Raditz.

_My little brother..._

Raditz's heart beat a little faster. There was still someone from his family alive. Another Saiyan. A fourth soldier to add to their group. Brothers, fighting side by side across the universe...he hadn't looked forward to fighting like this since...since...

_Since Gogontura._

Nappa still looked confused, likehe was trying to piece it all together. Prince Vegeta nodded.

"Do you remember where he was sent?"

"A planet called Earth."

_Mother told me, right before I left..._

"It was right before the planet was destroyed. The coordinates should still be in the main computer, then..." The prince leaned on the side of his pod, thinking. He turned to Raditz.

"This could work to our advantage. Do you remember what he looked like? Can you find him quickly?"

"Yeah, I can find him. So long as he hasn't cut his hair, it should be easy."

_He looked just like Father._

"But he was just a baby," said Nappa. "Will he remember you?"

Raditz stared off away from the other two. "If he's got any memories of before the planet got hit, he'll know me."

_After all..._

_I look just like Mother._


End file.
